Parrish and Jasik fit for play-offs

Player-Coach Dwight Parrish has given Bracknell Bees a boost ahead of their English Premier League Championship play-off campaign.

Parrish has announced that he and Slovakian forward Peter Jasik will be fit to return to action for the club’s opening qualifying games against Swindon Wildcats this weekend.

Both players came through training without any ill effects on Tuesday and plan to make their comebacks from injury at Swindon on Saturday (5.45pm face-off) with the sides meeting again at the Hive on Sunday (6pm).

Parrish was sidelined last week by a shoulder injury, while Jasik has missed Bees’ last six league games due to a groin strain.

But Bees’ boss said: “Providing neither of us suffer a setback in training tonight, we will definitely play at the weekend.”

The timing of the return of their two imports could not be better for Bees who will be without Jamie Line and Sam Oakford due to international call-ups.

Line and Oakford will also miss the following weekend’s play-off double-header against Slough Jets because they are representing Great Britain in Division 2 Group B of the World Under-18s Championships in Tallinn.

Great Britain U-18s’ first game is against hosts Estonia on Sunday and they then face Romania, Israel and Spain before their final fixture against Hungary on March 29.

Parrish said: “Sam has played a regular shift in defence for us all season and been involved on penalty-killing, while Jamie brings energy and speed to our forwards so it is very important to get me back in defence and Peter as a forward.”

Bees are the defending play-off champions, but Parrish refuses to contemplate adding to the EPL Cup that the club won last month.

“At the moment our goal is just to beat Swindon, then we will refocus on our next games,” he said.

“The first game in a double-header is important and we want to get a good start and carry that over to our home game.

“All our group games are going to be like a mini-series, with us playing away then at home to the same team.

“And when you play a team twice in a weekend, the games get more intense and little individual battles develop making it even more exciting – if that is possible in the play-offs.”

All but one of the four league games between Bees and Swindon this season have gone to overtime – with two needing penalty shots to settle the issue.

And Parrish is expecting two more close-fought encounters.

“I would expect all the games in our group to be tight,” he added.

“Swindon have good goaltender in Nathan Craze and we have tightened up at the back.”

The sides have met eight times in total this season, with Bees having edged the wins 5-3.

Parrish admits: “There is very little we don’t know about the way each other plays.

“I have been watching a video of the last time we played them (a 4-3 defeat after penalty shots) a fortnight ago. And we will be watching ways of breaking their trap system and guarding against falling into it.”